Environmental public hearings and intersectionality: women's voices from Gujarat, India
| Published date | 01 June 2024 |
| Author | GITANJALI NAIN GILL,FALGUNI JOSHI |
| Date | 01 June 2024 |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/jols.12476 |
DOI: 10.1111/j ols.12476
ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Environmental public hearings and
intersectionality: women’s voices from
Gujarat, India
GITANJALI NAIN GILL1FALGUN I JO SHI2
1Northumbria Law School, Northumbria
University, Newcastle-upon-Tyne,
England
2ParyavaranMitra, Ahmedabad, Gujarat,
India
Correspondence
Gitanjali Nain Gill, Northumbria Law
School, Northumbria University,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne,NE1 8ST, England.
Email: gita.gill@northumbria.ac.uk
Abstract
This article examines the application of the intersec-
tionality framework to the Indian statutory institutional
environmental public hearing (EPH) process that seeks
to promote environmental justice. Intersectionality pro-
vides a framework to capture the processes of gender
marginalization and exclusion. It critically demonstrates
how the required gender participation in the regula-
tory EPH process is failing rural women in the state of
Gujarat, India, thereby exacerbating discrimination and
inequality. Building on the researchers’ mixed-methods
(quantitative and qualitative) data, the article creates an
evidence-based ‘fresh dossier’ reflecting the non-existent
or limited participatory involvement of women as valu-
able stakeholders in the EPH process. Drawing on the
evidence of lived experiences creates spaces for women’s
voices that are excluded from the social system due to
dominant powers and institutional structures. We argue
that respecting the diversity of interests and identities of
rural Gujarati women within the institutionalized pub-
lic sphere would promote participation and recognition
of their knowledge and role as crucial stakeholders.
This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and
reproduction in any medium, providedthe original work is properly cited.
© 2024 The Authors. Journalof Law and Society published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Cardiff University (CU).
J. Law Soc. 2024;51:163–188. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/jols 163
164 JOURNAL OF LAWAND SOCIETY
1 INTRODUCTION
The Indian Constitution commits to a democratic social order that includes the promotion of
the rights and legitimate aspirations of women to be treated as equal citizens.1However, India
demonstrates a legal duality – promising and reassuring in theory but of limited effectiveness
in practice. This article presents the state-institutionalized environmental public hearing (EPH)
process as an illustrative example to evidence the discrimination and inequality affecting rural
women in the Indian state of Gujarat, thereby perpetuating environmental injustice. Testing the
EPH process through the framework of intersectionality, the article demonstrates that the cur-
rent engagement of women as key stakeholders in the process is restricted and unequal, and falls
short of the constitutional commitment. Women’svoices with respect to the environment remain
commonly ignored or silenced despite India’s 76 years of independence.
India has a strong agricultural economy, with 80 per cent of ruralwomen engaged in the agri-
cultural sector.2RuralIndian women make crucial contributions to environmental resource usage
and its management by using their local knowledge and skills, thereby supporting the rural econ-
omy. ‘Local knowledge’, including Indigenous knowledge, is defined as the ‘cumulative body of
knowledge, practice, and belief, evolving by adaptive processes and handed down through gener-
ations by cultural transmission, about the relationship of living beings (including humans) with
one another and with their environment’.3
Indian traditions and customs reflect the women–environment nexus.4It is one of reciprocity,
symbiosis, harmony, and interrelatedness.5In particular, the interdependence of rural women is
indicative of an emotional and intellectual bond, a long-standing relationship with their environ-
ment, and the holistic knowledge accumulated over centuries to govern social-ecological systems.
Recognizing and promoting this relationship is crucial for effective environmental governance.
Indian rural women’s sensitivity to environmental processes and their roles as producers,
managers, income generators, and educators is firmly established.6For example, women are
1Equality is a cornerstone of Indian democracy. See Constitution of India 1950, arts 14 (equality before law and equal
protection of laws), 15 (prohibition of discrimination on grounds of religion, race, caste, sex, or place of birth), 39
(equal pay for equal work for both men and women), 42 (securing just and humane conditions of work and for
maternity relief), and 43 (equal living wages, and social and cultural opportunities). See also Government of India
Ministry of Women & Child Development, National Policy for Women 2016: Articulating a Vision for Empowerment
of Women (2016), at <https://wcd.nic.in/sites/default/files/draft%20national%20policy%20for%20women%202016.pdf>;
Government of India, ‘Mission Shakti’ G20 Empower,at<https://g20empower-india.org/en/home/mission-details/
shakti>.
2N. Patel and T. Sethi, ‘RuralWomen: Key to India’s Agrarian Revolution’ NITI Aayog, 3 March 2022, at <https://www.
niti.gov.in/rural-women-key-new-indias- agrarian-revolution>.
3F. Ber kes, Sacred Ecology (2018, 4th edn) 8.
4Hindu traditions and customs view the Earth as distinctly feminine – a living being, a mother, a woman, a goddess who
is to be loved, respected, and nurtured, as she nurtures humanity.In Hindu traditions, Mother Earth has a name: Bhumi
Devi. In San¯
atana Dharma, the dual issues of respecting the way of nature and women are inseparable. Forexample, the
peepul tree, known for being sacred and antique, is worshipped by village women as it is considered a symbol of fertility
and progeny.Similarly, the tulsi plant, an ancient variety of basil, is grown in Hindu households, and women offer daily
prayers for protecting the family against danger and difficulties.
5V.Shiva, Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development (1988).
6Government of India Ministry of Child & Welfare Development, Report of the High Level Committee on the Status of
WomeninIndia,Vol.4(2015) 1212–1215; M. Mies and V. Shiva, Ecofeminism (2014); G. N. Gill, ‘Feminisationof Poverty:
Indian Rural Women and the Environment’(2012) 63 Northern Ireland Legal Q.291,at295–297;B.Agarwal,Gender and
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